Craters: Earth < Moon, Venus

[S. Dilly]

Yup, me again, with yet another question i cant seem to find an answer to.


Why doesnt the eath have as many craters as its Moon or Venus?

These questions seem like they would be so easy to answer, but im still having trouble figuring them out. :grumpy:

[check]

There are several reasons why we don’t see nearly as many craters on Earth than on Mars. First off, yes meteorites and asteroids do smack into the Earth. Not only that but because the Earth is much more massive than the moon, more asteroids collide with it. However, because Earth (and Venus for that matter) have thick atmospheres, the vast majority of meteors burn up in the atmosphere. The ones that do make it to the ground form craters. These craters eventually ‘erode’ or become submerged and all that jazz due to the Earth’s weather and continents shifting…etc. So that’s why we don’t see as many craters on Earth as the moon.

[enigma]

Earth's surface is still active. Continental drift and erosion causes all but the most recent craters to get "re-cycled".

[Phobos]

Venus has few craters too. It's surface is very geologically active.

as mentioned...
On Earth, craters are quickly eroded away by wind/water/etc.
On the moon, there's no atmosphere or liquid water or continental drift or active volcanos. So craters last for billions of years.